September Symposiums: The Poetry Lighthouse IV

The Poetry Lighthouse Anthology IV 

See all of TPL’s carefully curated anthologies and books here: https://www.thepoetrylighthouse.com/books

I love how The Poetry Lighthouse organized this collection into themed sections. Anthologies sometimes feel chaotic with so many different voices, but Erwin Arroyo Pérez has done an excellent job with curation and editing! 

Some Pieces I Enjoyed (just to name a few):

"The Naturalist" by Daniel Naawenkangua Abukuri

This is a cool and unique palindrome poem. I don’t think I have seen anything like it. I didn’t even know it was a palindrome at first because it wasn’t used in a gimmicky or obvious way. Clever - difficult to accomplish what has been done here. 

"Stone Collectors" by Anna Mindel Crawford

The metaphor/idea of stones used to describe mental health really hit. 

"Villanelle Of Cards" by David Punter

This poem uses repetition to show the emotion of obsession effectively. 

"Fugue in Yellow" by Sian Maciejowski

Music, psychology, and trauma collide in a strong way in this piece. 

"Glorified Gumbo" by Amanda Andrews

There are a lot of modified recipe poems out there, and I am always on the lookout for someone who did something new and/or really well with a popular topic or form. This piece is all of those wonderful things! 

"What Sustains Us" by Stacie Eirich

What is arbitrary? What is imperative? Stacie grapples with those ideas in a surprising and relatable way. 

It is Nana T. Baffour-Awuah who takes the prize for me as THE stand-out in this collection. When searching for a favorite line from “Adam,” I simply could not choose. Now I understand what editors mean when they say each line should be doing something important. To me, it’s a perfect poem. Below is a little sample!